第四部分经典演讲节选

第四部分　经典演讲节选　　Excerpts from Classic Speeches

1

Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past; so live that, dying, he might say: all my life, all my strength were given to the finest cause in all the world—the fight for the Liberation of Mankind.

人生最宝贵的是生命。生命对于人来说只有一次。一个人的生命应该这样度过：当他回首往事时，不因虚度年华而悔恨；也不会因为碌碌无为而羞耻。在临死的时候他能够说：我的整个生命和全部精力都已经献给了世界上最壮丽的事业——为人类的解放事业而斗争！

possession: n.财产

torturing: adj. 使痛苦的

2

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money, it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative efforts, the joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days, my friends, will be worth all they cost us, if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered on to , but to minister to ourselves, to our fellow men.

幸福并不在于单纯的占有金钱，幸福还在于取得成功后的喜悦，在于创造努力时的激情。务必不能再忘记劳动带来的喜悦和激励，而去疯狂追逐那转瞬即逝的利润。如果这些黯淡的日子能使我们认识到，我们真正的使命不是要别人侍奉，而是要为自己和同胞们服务的话，那么，我们付出的代价是完全值得的。

3

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word, it is victory. Victory at all costs—victory in spite of all terrors—victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. Let that be realized, no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge, the impulse of the ages, that mankind shall more forward toward his goal. I take up my task in buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. I feel entitled at this juncture, at this time, to claim the aid of all and to say, “Come then, let us go forward together with our united strength.”

我能奉献的唯有热血、辛劳、泪水和汗水。我们所面临的将是一场极为残酷的考验，我们面临的将是旷日持久的斗争和苦难。你若问我们的目标是什么？我可以用一个词来概括，那就是胜利。不惜一切代价去夺取胜利，不畏惧一切恐怖去夺取胜利，不论前路再长、再苦也要夺取胜利，因为没有胜利就无法生存！我们必须意识到，没有胜利就没有大英帝国，没有胜利就没有大英帝国所象征的一切，没有胜利就没有多少世纪以来强烈的要求和冲动：人类应当向自己的目标迈进。此刻，我的精神振奋，满怀信心地承当起自己的任务。我确信，只要我们大家联合，我们的事业就不会挫败。此时此刻千钧一发之际，我觉得我有权要求各方面的支持。我要呼吁：“来吧，让我们群策努力，并肩迈进！”

grievous: adj. 令人忧伤的

buoyancy: n. 浮性，浮力，轻快

entitled：adj. 有资格的

4

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of men. Finally, whether you are citizens of America, or citizens of the world, ask of us here, the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience of our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.

—John F. Kennedy

美国同胞们，不要问美国能为你们做些什么，应该问你们能为美国贡献些什么。全世界的同胞们，不要问美国将为你做些什么，应该问我们一同能为人类的自由做些什么。最后，无论你是美国公民还是其他国家的同胞，你们应该要求我们献出我们同样要求于你们高度的力量和牺牲。无愧于心是我们唯一可靠的奖赏，历史是我们行动最终的裁判。这一切让我们大步向前，去引领我们所热爱的这片土地。我们祈求上帝的保佑和帮助，但我们很清楚，上帝在尘世的工作必定是我们自己的工作。

—[美]约翰•肯尼迪

citizen: n.市民,公民

sacrifice: n./ v.牺牲，献身

conscience: n.良心，道德心

5

Let me express my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves, which is essential to victory and I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. In such a spirit on my part and on yours, we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things.

—By Franklin D. Roosevelt

让我来表明我坚定的信念：我们不得不害怕的其实就是害怕本身——一种莫名其妙的、丧失理智的、毫无根据的恐惧。它把人们转退为进所需要的种种努力化为泡影。但凡在我国生活阴云密布的时刻，坦率而有活力的领导都得到过人民的理解和支持，从而为胜利准备了不可缺少的必要条件。我相信，在目前危机的时刻，大家会再次给予同样的支持。我和你们都要以这种精神来共同面对困难。感谢上帝，这些困难只是物质方面的。

—[美]弗兰克林•罗斯福

unreasoning: adj.丧失理智的

unjustified: adj.毫无根据的

frankness: n.率直，坦白

6

In this symposium, better is it to only sit in silence. To express one’s feelings as the end draws near is too intimate a task. That I would mention only one thought that comes to me as a listener-in: the riders in a race do not stop short when they reach the goal; there is a little finishing canter before coming to a standstill; there is time to hear the kind voice of friends, and to say to oneself, the work is done. But just as one says that, the answer comes, the race is over, but the work never is done while the power to work remains. The canter that brings you to a standstill need not be only coming to rest; it cannot be while you still live. But to live is to function, that is all there is in living. So I end with a land from a Latin voice: death, death, clutches my ear, and says, live, I am coming.

—By Oliver Wendell Holmes

此刻，沉默是金。要在生命即将完结之时表达个人感受并非易事。但我只是想谈谈作为一名倾听者的看法。骑士们并非一到终点就立刻止步，他们继续缓步向前，倾听朋友们的欢呼。他们虽然告诉自己行程已经结束了。正如人们所说结果出来了，比赛结束了。但只要动力仍在，人生之旅就尚未结束。终点之后的慢跑并非停滞不前，因为活着便不能如此。活着就要有所作为，这才是生命的真谛。最后谨以一句古拉丁格言与各位共勉：死神不止，奋斗不止。

—[美]奥利佛·文德尔·荷默斯

in this symposium:此刻

goal: n.目的,目标

standstill: n.停止

7

The grandest of these ideals is an unfolding American promise that everyone belongs, that everyone deserves a chance, that no insignificant person was ever born. Americans are called to enact this promise in our lives and in our laws. And though our nation has sometimes halted, and sometimes delayed, we must follow no other course. Through much of the last century, America’s faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations. Our democratic faith is more than the creed of our country, it is the inborn hope of our humanity, an ideal we carry but do not own, a trust we bear and pass along. And even after nearly 225 years, we have a long way yet to travel.

—By George W. Bush

这些理想中最伟大的是正在慢慢实现的美国的承诺，这就是：每个人都有自身的价值，每个人都有成功的机会，每个人天生都会有所作为的。美国人民肩负着一种使命，那就是要竭力将这个诺言变成生活中和法律上的现实。虽然我们的国家过去在追求实现这个承诺的途中停滞不前甚至倒退，但我们仍将坚定不移地完成这一使命。在上个世纪的大部分时间里，美国自由民主的信念犹如汹涌大海中的岩石。现在它更像风中的种子，把自由带给每个民族。在我们的国家，民主不仅仅是一种信念，而是全人类的希望；民主，我们不会独占，而会竭力让大家分享；民主，我们将铭记于心并且不断传播。225年过去了，我们仍有很长的路要走。

—[美]乔治·布什

insignificant: adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的

democracy: n.民主政治，民主主义

8

If you expect something to turn out badly, it probably will. Pessimism is seldom disappointed. But the same principle also works in reverse. If you expect good things to happen, they usually do. There seems to be a natural cause-and-effect relationship between optimism and success.

An optimistic attitude is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. The way you look at life will determine how you feel, how you perform, and how well you will get along with other people. Conversely, negative thoughts, attitudes, and expectations feed on themselves; they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimism creates a dismal place where no one wants to live.

Optimism diverts our attention away from negativism and channels it into positive, constructive thinking. When you’re an optimist, you’re more concerned with problem-solving than with useless carping about issues. In fact, without optimism, issues as big and ongoing as poverty have no hope of solution. It takes a dreamer—someone with hopelessly optimistic ideas, great persistence, and unlimited confidence—to tackle a problem that big. It’s your choice.

—Choose Optimism By Rich Devos

假如你预期某事会有不妙的结果，结局也许就真的不妙——悲观的想法很少落空。但这个法则反过来也同样成立：如果你自感鸿运当头，通常就会有好运降临！在乐观与成功之间似乎有一种天然的因果关系。

乐观的态度不是一种奢侈品；它是我们生活的必需。你看待生活的方式将决定你的感受、你的表现，以及你与他人相处得怎样。反过来，悲观的想法、态度和预期也会自成因果：它们是能自我实现的预言。悲观会制造出无人愿往的黑暗处所。

乐观精神使我们的注意力从消极的否定态度转向积极的、建设性的思考。乐观主义者更关心如何解决问题，而不是毫无意义的怨天尤人。说真的，如果没有乐观精神，像贫穷这样沉重且持续存在的问题是无望解决的。解决这样的问题需要一个梦想家——一个拥有九死不悔的乐观、矢志不移的坚韧和无限信心的人。何去何从，由你决定。

—理查·狄维士《选择乐观》

（注：Rich Devos：全球最大的直销公司——安利公司创始人，NBA奥兰多魔术队以及WNBA奥兰多奇迹队老板。）

9

Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may justifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it—so at least it seems to me—is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river—small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being.

—How to Grow Old By Bertrand Russell

有些老人为死的恐惧所困扰。如果年轻人有这种恐惧，那倒无可厚非。年轻人有理由害怕战死沙场；当他们想到被骗走了生命所能给予的美好生活，他们有理由愤愤不平。但对于一个备尝人生甘苦，业已完成该做的一切的老人来说，怕死就有点不大可取了。克服这种恐惧的最好方法是——至少在我看来如此——使你的兴趣逐渐扩大，越来越超出个人之外，最终你的自我之墙将一点一点地后退，你的生命将越来越和人类的生命之墙融合在一起。一个人的一生应该像一条河——起初很小，被两岸紧紧束缚，猛烈地冲向岩石和瀑布。逐渐地它变宽了，两岸后退了，河水静静地流淌。到最后，不经过任何可见的停留，就和大海汇合在一起，毫无痛苦地失去它自身的存在。

—伯特兰·罗素《如何变老》

(注：伯特兰·罗素是20世纪最伟大的哲学家之一，同时又是著名的数学家、散文作家和社会活动家。罗素是一个具有强烈社会关怀的人道主义者、和平主义者。他的胸怀充满正义、良知、睿智、温情，多姿多彩，博大精深。1950年，为了“表彰他所写的捍卫人道主义思想和思想自由的多种多样意义重大的作品”，被授予诺贝尔文学奖。)

10

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

—Three Passions By Bertrand Russell

有三种简单然而无比强烈的激情左右了我的一生；对爱的渴望,对知识的探索和对人类苦难的难以忍受的怜悯。

—伯特兰·罗素《吾生三愿》

11

Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. To give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment’s thought and a moment’s effort—perhaps a quick phone call to pass on a compliment, or five minutes spent writing an appreciative letter.

—Profits of Praise By Janet Graham

对于人的精神来说，赞扬就像阳光一样， 没有它我们就不可能开花，也不会生长。赞扬别人只需要费赞扬者片刻的思索和片刻的努力，或是打个电话说上几句赞美话，或是花上五分钟写一封感谢信。

—珍妮特·格雷厄姆《赞扬的好处》

12

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees. It is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep spring of life.

Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being’s heart the lure of wonders, the unfailing childlike appetite of what’s next and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from infinite, so long as you are young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with the snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you’ve grown old, even at 20, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there’s hope you may die young at 80.

—Youth By Samuel Ullman

是深沉的意志、宏伟的想象、炽热

青春不是年华，而是心境；青春不是桃面、丹唇、柔膝，而的感情；青春是生命的深泉在涌流。

无论年届花甲，抑或二八芳龄，心中皆有生命之欢乐，奇迹之诱惑，孩童般天真久盛不衰。人人心中皆有一台天线，只要你从天上人间接受美好、希望、欢乐、勇气和力量的信号，你就青春永驻，风华常存。

一旦天线倒塌，锐气被冰雪覆盖，玩世不恭、自暴自弃油然而生，几十年方二十，实已垂老矣；然则只要竖起天线，捕捉乐观的信号，你就有望在八十高龄告别尘寰时仍觉得年轻。

—塞缪尔·厄尔曼《青春》

（注：一篇不足500字的短文，几十年来一直产生着轰动效应；美国麦克阿瑟将军生前将其视为座右铭。）

13

As poet and author Samuel Ullman once wrote, “Years wrinkles the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”

We need to live each moment wholeheartedly, with all our senses-finding pleasure in the fragrance of a back-yard garden, the crayoned picture of a six-year-old, the enchanting beauty of a rainbow.

It is such an enthusiastic love of life that puts a sparkle in our eyes.

—Wake up Your Life

正如诗人兼作家萨穆尔·厄尔曼所写，“年龄给皮肤带来皱纹，但是放弃热情则使灵魂衰老。”

我们需要全心全意，用我们所有的感知度过生命中的每一刻。在后院花园里的芳香中，在六岁孩子的蜡笔画中，在美丽的彩虹中寻找快乐。

正是这样对生命的热爱使我们眼中焕发出光彩。

——《唤醒你的生活》

14

You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given up, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.

You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs-victory in spite of all terrors-victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival.

—Winston Churchill

你们问：我们的政策是什么? 我要说，在海上、陆地和空中进行战争。 我们的政策就是用我们全部能力，用上帝所给予我们的全部力量，同一个在人类黑暗悲惨的罪恶史上所从未有过的穷凶极恶的暴政进行战争。这就是我们的政策。

你们问：我们的目标是什么? 我可以用一个词来回答：不惜一切代价，去赢得胜利；无论多么可怕，也要赢得胜利，无论道路多么遥远和艰难，也要赢得胜利，因为没有胜利，就不能生存。

——温斯顿•丘吉尔